Columbia University’s Teachers College has received a $5-million grant from the GE Foundation to form partnerships with 10 public schools in Harlem to increase their focus on mathematics, science, engineering, and technology education.

Faculty members at Teachers College and at the university’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science will work with the local schools to devise rigorous math and science curricula, create afterschool programs for students, incorporate technology into the classroom, and increase teachers’ knowledge of developments in math and science.

The college will devise a final list of partner schools this summer and hopes to later expand the effort to other schools and subject areas. “The partnerships being initiated with this funding represent the first step in our creation of a robust network of TC-affiliated public schools in upper Manhattan,” said the college’s president, Susan H. Fuhrman, in a written statement.

Published Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008